Swami Lodhi booked for dacoity

STATE GOVERNMENT today told the Assembly that the charge against former chief minister Uma Bharti?s elder brother Swami Lodhi has been converted from loot to dacoity and , if required, he could be externed from Tikamgarh district and his property could be attached.

STATE GOVERNMENT today told the Assembly that the charge against former chief minister Uma Bharti’s elder brother Swami Lodhi has been converted from loot to dacoity and , if required, he could be externed from Tikamgarh district and his property could be attached.

On the other hand, the Opposition Congress staged a walk out after the Speaker did not allow Leader of the Opposition Jamuna Devi to intervene in the debate over the alleged Rs 19 lakh loot of a businessman by Swami Lodhi and three others in Tikamgarh district.

The Speaker ruled that the issue sought to be raised by the Leader of Opposition was not in the purview of call-attention motion moved by Brijendra Singh Rathore and Rajnarayan Singh of the Congress.

Leader of the opposition Jamuna Devi, who intervened during discussion on a call attention notice on the issue, led the walkout after the Speaker denied further discussion on the issue. She said she had conveyed to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan about the harassment as Swami Lodhi’s wife had sent a letter to her and the Governor on the police harassment.

“There should not be harassment of women by the police”, she added. The Chief Minister, who rose to reply to Jamuna Devi’s charge, promptly took his seat as the Speaker took up the next item on the agenda.

Minister of State for Home Nagendra Singh, in his reply, said the offence of dacoity had been added during investigation into the loot of Rs 19 lakh from a trader Babulal Jain, who was returning home with the cash after selling land on February 20.

He said three vehicles involved in the loot had been seized and two persons, including Swami Lodhi’s gunman Head Constable Omsharan Pal, had been arrested. Another gunman deployed for Swami Lodhi’s security had been withdrawn after the incident, he added.

Swami Lodhi was still absconding, he added. Earlier, participating in the debate Brijendra Singh Rathore referred to spurt in the incidents of